0
Tuesday 3 April 2012 - 08:57

‘Syria committed to pledges, expects same of other parties’

Story Code : 150033
‘Syria committed to pledges, expects same of other parties’
The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja’afari said the Syrian government is actually determined to assist with the success of the mission of the joint UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan.

He noted that those parties that are violating their commitment towards Annan’s mission are the ones that attended “The Enemies of Syria” meeting in Istanbul, and those that blatantly and publicly called for arming, sponsoring and supporting armed groups in the country by means of money, weapons as well as logistics assistance.

Ja’afari highlighted that while the Syrian government has agreed to Annan's six-point plan for ending the violence in the country; it expects the former UN chief to gain the same kind of commitment from the parties involved in sponsoring and supplying armed gangs in Syria, namely Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and France.

The Syrian government has already started withdrawing military units from some populated areas, says the Syrian UN envoy. This operation, he adds, will continue until April 10, and Damascus expects Annan to return and inform Syrian authorities that the other parties are also resolved to stop their intervention in Syria’s domestic affairs and halt persisting efforts to incite the Syrian unrest.

The official stressed that those countries that sponsor armed groups in Syria have their own hidden agendas and do not intend to help Syrian opposition figures.

They are merely trying to undermine Syria and hinder the Arab country’s strategic regional role in the face of Israeli aggressions against its neighbors, Ja’afari underlined.

Annan announced on Monday that Damascus has accepted a deadline to start implementing his proposed plan to settle the Syrian unrest.

Annan met Assad in Damascus on March 10 and presented him with a six-point plan calling for the military pullout.

On Sunday, several Persian Gulf Arab states and the United States pledged 100 million dollars to provide salaries and communications equipment for Syrian rebels fighting against the government.

The countries, led by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, made the offer at an anti-Damascus conference in Istanbul labeled the “Friends of Syria”, a grouping of some 70 Western and Arab countries that Damascus has described as "enemies of Syria”.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including security forces, have been killed in the violence.

While the West and some factions of the Syrian opposition accuse the government of the killings, Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Comment